This Anant Mahadeven directorial is based on legendary director Satyajit Ray’s short story ‘Golpo Boliye Tarini Khuro’.
The Storyteller (Hindi), 28-01-2025, Drama, 1 hour 52 minutes, U/A, OTT
- Main Cast: Paresh Rawal, Adil Hussain, and Tannishtha Chattejee
- Director: Anant Mahadeven
- Producer: Jyoti Deshpande
- Music Director: Hriju Roy
- Cinematography: Alphonse Roy
- Rating: 3.5/5
Legendary director Satayit Ray is a man of numerous talents. He was not only a celebrated director but also a wonderful writer. His stories remain relevant today.
In 2021, a Netflix anthology titled Ray was released. The very talented directors Abhishek Chaubey, Srijit Mukherjee, and Vasan Bala did absolute justice to Satyajit Ray’s stories.
Now you have a feature film The Storyteller directed by Anant Mahadevan based on his short story streaming on Disney Plus Hotstar.
Synopsis
Just like his other stories, this one too holds significant relevance even today, raising important questions. The movie delivers a powerful message about how stories by themselves don’t hold magic; it’s the storyteller who breathes life into them.
The core of The Storyteller is two men of two very different thought processes and backgrounds. Paresh Rawal plays Tarini a man who has never stuck to one proper job throughout his life. However, his one constant love is storytelling.
He enjoys telling stories but is very afraid of putting them down on paper. On the other hand, you have Adil Hussain’s Garodia, a Gujarati businessman from Ahmadabad. Garodia sells luxurious cotton sheets to provide sleep for the rest of the world but he suffers from the plague of insomnia.
To get over his insomnia he puts an advertisement for a storyteller who will put him to sleep through stories. Tarini comes across this advertisement and upon his friend’s insistence decides to become a storyteller given his love for stories.
A very unexpected friendship develops between the two, but things take a very drastic turn when Garodia starts exploiting the stories of Tarini leading to significant differences.
Strong aspects
A very strong aspect of The Storyteller is undoubtedly the characterizations of the two principal characters.
Tarini is a quintessential Bengali with a huge love for Rabindranath Tagore books, fish and Durga puja among others. He loves losing himself in the stories he narrates.
Garodia on the other hand completely embodies a typical Gujarati businessman. His personality comes out strikingly in the design of the house, major focus on numbers and very importantly possessing lots of books but not reading them.
He has a certain obsession about finding success in business leaving little time for artistic traits.
The pace of the movie
This contrast drives the movie in many ways. Director Ananth Mahadevan does a very fine job of exploring this through an unhurried mode of narration.

The pacing of The Storyteller and its aesthetics often reflects that of the art house Bengali movies. This can be a major deterrent for some particularly today’s audiences who are used to a certain kind of cinema.
But this unhurried mode of narration is also a major strength of the movie.
A special mention must also be made of how Tarini doesn’t directly confront Garodia, instead he cleverly exposes the man as a plagiarist.
It is subtle but still powerful. At the same time, the movie also focuses on the shared need of stories through the two men even if they are culturally and thematically very different from each other.
This comes out powerfully in the climax where the director talks about how both men may tell the same tale but their versions will diverge leaving the viewers to decide for themselves which version they prefer.
A social commentary
Through the character of Garodia, the movie also reflects on the exploitation of creative prowess—Rich people wanting to come across as intellectual. This has relevance to today’s digital age. Certain writers are paid a lot of money to ghostwrite the tweets of some so that they come across as humorous.
A certain need and insecurity is what drives Garodia to plagiarize Tarini’s stories. The insecurity of Garodia is not just reflected in stealing Tarini’s stories but also in consuming fish even though he is repelled by the smell of it. In a way, Garodia comes across as a tragic figure as he wants to fit in.
Among the stories narrated by Tarini a mention must be made of the spy pigeon during World War 2 and also a hundred-year-old tree in the Aravali forests.
Technical aspects and characterisation
The Storyteller also benefits from the wonderful atmosphere. Cinematographer Alphonso Roy does a terrific job of capturing the ethos of both Kolkata and Ahmadabad through his lens. The art design also takes the viewers back in time, making it an immersive experience.

Talking about the two leads, both Paresh Rawal and Adil Hussain deliver terrific performances, Paresh Rawal completely embodies the typical characteristics of a Bengali man with flair.
He effortlessly gets into the skin of the role proving why he is such a legend once again. His punch lines are a sheer delight whether it is cursing capitalism or the line about plagiarism.
A dialogue needs to be particularly mentioned here. “Nakal Ke Liye Bhi Akal Chahiye” (You need intelligence to even copy something).
Adil Hussain matches step to step-with his delightful act of an insecure businessman. Adil comes across as a half antagonist and a half sympathetic figure; both of which he captures splendidly.
Senior actress Revathy has an extended special appearance as Saraswati. In spite of the brief screen time, Revathy makes her presence amply felt. Mention must also be made of Tannishtha Chatterjee as the Tamil librarian. Her scenes with Paresh though few are still wonderful to watch.
The songs of the legendary writer and poet Rabindranath Tagore such as Purano Shei Dinner Kotha and Tumi Robe Nirobe and the various other folk songs have been seamlessly integrated into the narrative as well.
Final take
To sum it up The Storyteller is a must-watch for fans of serious cinema and of course the many admirers of Satyajit Ray too.
(Views expressed here are personal, edited by Sumavarsha)
https://thesouthfirst.com/entertainment/the-storyteller-movie-review/